The present invention relates to ice cream dispensers, and especially to an ice cream dispenser for dispensing portions from a block of packaged ice cream.
In the past, it has been common to provide a large variety of refrigerated mechanisms having dispensers mounted thereon. Typical of the prior art are ice cream freezers, in which ice cream is made in the freezer portion of a refrigerator or in a separate freezer and has a dispenser for dispensing the ice cream in a soft flowing state. Typical ice cream mixers and dispensers may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,125,693 for a dessert freezer, which includes a power driven agitator equipped freezing unit for mixing ice cream, and also includes means for dispensing the ice cream. Similar units may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,416,326, for an ice cream freezer which produces ice cream for table use by agitating the ingredients in the freezer, and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,265,867 an ice cream freezer is provided with its own refrigeration coils for making ice cream without the use of ice. U.S. Pat. No. 2,209,979 illustrates a different type of apparatus for serving frozen confection products directly from a freezer. Other devices that will attach to existing freezer units include ice making machines which sometimes dispense and crush the ice made in the freezer. A typical refrigerator ice service may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,640,088 and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,864, for a refrigerated food processing meat chopper or grinder which includes a refrigerated portion for grinding and dispensing meat or the like.
The present invention, on the other hand, mounts in a household freezer, similar to an ice making machine, but uses ice cream purchased in a supermarket or other store in half-gallon blocks which may be inserted into separate canisters so that when the ice cream is desired, it may be quickly slid into the ice cream dispenser mounted in the freezer, and an actuating button pushed to deliver ice cream to a bowl. The ice cream delivery ceases when the actuating switch is released, thereby allowing the user to accurately determine the portion that he desires, and providing him with ice cream which is cut into smaller pieces from the large block of ice cream.